Whicker: Pacific's mystery,man

Not coincidentally, freshman Alex Young and sophomore Will Davis II couldn't quite pin down the moment. Young was 2 for 9 with one assist, and Davis, although he had two blocks and six rebounds and had two notable slams, only had one other bucket.

"Pacific has an interesting team," Turner said. "They can put five shooters out there against you. They're a little bit like us in that you don't always know which guy is going to hurt you, so they're tough to prepare for. And they were physical with us, like they always were. I'm not sure we handled that very well.

"The rebounding at the beginning set a tone, that's for sure. I think they had eight offensive boards by the first media time out."

One of the Irvine seniors who bowed out of meaningful play was Adam Folker, whose tightly braced knee did not allow him to play in the first two tournament games. He was rushed into this one to try to even up the board discrepancy, and played 13 minutes with six rebounds.

The other UCI seniors – Daman Starring, Michael Wilder and Derick Flowers – leave with the knowledge that they helped bring UCI a 20-victory season and that they took a drifting ship and put it back on course.

They won't be easily replaced, but next season the Anteaters will have Young, Davis, shooter Travis Souza and Chris McNealy, big men John Ryan and Conor Clifford, and a sweet-sounding recruiting class that includes 7-foot-6 Mamadou N'daiye and British point guard Luke Nelson.

Another boost for UCI is that Pacific is moving on to the West Coast Conference and won't have Thomason anyway.

"I told him before the game that it was an honor to compete against him," Turner said. "He's the winningest coach in Big West history."

For the Anteaters, freshmen become sophomores, and sophomores become juniors. But it always helps when the first blooms of March become a surprise like Tony Gill.

UC Irvine's Adam Folker is heavily guarded by the Pacific defense after grabbing a rebound during the first half of the Big West Championship Final at Honda Center Saturday night. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UC Irvine's Michael Wilder (23) and Daman Starring walk off the court as Pacific celebrates their 64-55 victory in the Championship game of the Big West Tournament at Honda Center Saturday night. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
UC Irvine's Michael Wilder (23) and Daman Starring walk off the court as Pacific celebrates their 64-55 victory in the Championship game of the Big West Tournament at Honda Center Saturday night. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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